The former Middlesbrough winger scored City's equaliser against Juventus in the Europa League on Wednesday night, but Mills is not convinced his manager believes in him.

The former England right-back told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: "Johnson’s a fantastic player and how he didn’t go to to the World Cup I’ll never know. He’s an impact player, he’s got a trick, he beats people.

"He's the only person in English football at the moment who’s a true winger, a dribbler.

"My only worry is he’s not a Mancini type player. I’m not sure Mancini likes him because he will take the odd risk, he will give the ball away and I think he may struggle to get a regular start which would be a massive shame."

Although Mills has concerns about the Italian's possible treatment of the England wide man, he admits he has been impressed with the job he's done at Eastlands so far.

He added: "Mancini’s building a really promising side. Everyone expects them to be this flair, attacking team but Mancini has turned that around and he’s got a big, strong powerful side.

"Not everything is happy in the camp but Mancini will do things his way no matter what, and that’s upset one or two. But, on the flip side, if it’s going well nobody can complain.

"The only thing I think he still lacks - and admittedly we haven't seen much of Balotelli yet - is a 20-25 goal centre-forward."

Johnson's the only person in English football at the moment who’s a true winger, a dribbler